Fox News Host Criticizes Trump Over Kilmar Abrego Garcia Case

Fox News host Trey Gowdy criticized the Trump administration this week for its handling of the federal case involving Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland father who was mistakenly deported to a notorious mega-prison in El Salvador.

Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment via email.

Why It Matters

Abrego Garcia’s deportation sparked public outcry after the Trump administration acknowledged in court that he had been sent to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) because of an “administrative error.”

A Salvadoran national, Abrego Garcia came to the U.S. illegally around 2011, but an immigration judge ruled in 2019 that he could not be removed to El Salvador because of the threat he faced from a local gang there.

Despite that order, Abrego Garcia, who has no criminal record, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials in March and deported to El Salvador along with more than 200 Venezuelan migrants, many of whom have also not been charged with crimes.

A federal judge and the Supreme Court have since ordered the Trump administration to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S. But both Trump and El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele have insisted neither has the authority to do so.

What To Know

Gowdy, a former Republican congressman who hosts a Sunday evening show on Fox News, told fellow anchor Martha MacCallum on Tuesday that the Trump administration is “disobeying” the Supreme Court by dragging its feet on repatriating Abrego Garcia.

“What do you think the White House should do in this situation?” MacCallum asked Gowdy during the Tuesday evening broadcast of her show, The Story With Martha MacCallum.

“I mean, I think what they ought to do is probably follow the judge’s order and the Supreme Court decision, which used the word ‘facilitate,'” Gowdy replied. Notably, the Supreme Court’s decision was unanimous.

“Also in that opinion, Martha, were the words ‘accidental,’ ‘mistake’ and ‘illegal,'” he added. “I mean, those are not three good words you want in a Supreme Court decision.”

Gowdy was referring to multiple Trump administration officials’ acknowledgements that Abrego Garcia was sent to El Salvador in error.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, who has been overseeing the legal proceedings in Abrego Garcia’s case, said she will have Trump administration officials testify under oath to determine if they complied with an earlier order to facilitate his return to the U.S.

“The Supreme Court has spoken,” Xinis said Tuesday, adding that Trump and Bukele’s Oval Office comments this week were “not before the court.”

The two leaders’ statements were “two very misguided ships passing in the night,” Xinis said.

The Trump administration, meanwhile, has repeatedly claimed that Abrego Garcia is an MS-13 gang member, citing as evidence a Chicago Bulls hat he wore and information from a “reliable source” saying Abrego Garcia was linked to MS-13 activity in New York. He has never lived in New York.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt doubled down on that characterization, saying during Tuesday’s briefing that he was a “foreign terrorist.” She did not provide additional evidence supporting that claim.

Gowdy said Tuesday that he doesn’t “want the guy in the United States,” but added, “I will say this: if the press secretary’s facts are right, it should be a pretty easy conviction.”

“And do I have more confidence in U.S. prisons or El Salvadoran prisons? U.S. prisons,” the former GOP lawmaker added. “I have confidence in the U.S. prosecutors. I have more confidence in the U.S. prison system.”

He went on to say: “If the president doesn’t agree with that, and he may not, then bring him back and then remove him to another country, appeal the removal order. But what we can’t have is any executive disobeying or not following a judge’s decision, even if you disagree with it.”

The 2019 order from an immigration judge in Abrego Garcia’s case said that while he could not be sent back to El Salvador, he could be deported to another country. The Trump administration has signaled it’s evaluating that option as an alternative to keeping Abrego Garcia in CECOT.

What People Are Saying

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has characterized the Supreme Court’s ruling in Abrego Garcia’s case as only requiring the government to provide transportation if he is released by El Salvador, adding: “That’s up to El Salvador if they want to return him. That’s up to them. The Supreme Court ruled that if El Salvador wants to return him, we would ‘facilitate’ it, meaning provide a plane.”

Bukele said in the Oval Office on Monday: “How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States? Of course, I’m not going to do it. The question is preposterous.”

Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who said he wants to visit Abrego Garcia in CECOT, told The Guardian: “This is a Maryland man. His family’s in Maryland, and he’s been caught up in this absolutely outrageous situation where the Trump administration admitted in court that he was erroneously abducted from the United States and placed in this notorious prison in El Salvador in violation of all his due process rights.”

Jennifer Stefania Vasquez Sura, Abrego Garcia’s wife, said outside the court: “Kilmar, if you can hear me, stay strong. God hasn’t forgotten about you. Our children are asking, when will you come home? And I pray for the day I tell them the time and date that you will return.”

What Happens Next

Xinis said Tuesday that she plans to move quickly on the case and invited Abrego Garcia’s lawyers to depose officials from the Department of Homeland Security, ICE and the State Department by next week.

Trump, meanwhile, has floated the idea of sending U.S. citizens convicted of some crimes to CECOT, and CNN reported on Wednesday that the Department of Justice and White House are looking into if there’s any legal justification for doing so.